More again from the Constitutional Court, which has released a statement summarising its verdict.
A petition had been submitted to the court by 36 senators, who accused Paetongtarn of an ethical breach over her leaked phone call with Hun Sen.
She confirmed the phone call, claiming that it had been a private phone conversation with the intent to negotiate peace. But lawmakers who filed the petition argued that Paetongtarn’s actions was not in line with her duties as prime minister.
The Constitution Court’s nine judges voted 6-3 against Paetongtarn, ruling that her actions had violated the ethical standards a prime minister is subjected to under the Constitution.
With the Constitutional Court’s ruling moments ago, Paetongtarn is immediately removed from office and her cabinet dissolved.
This makes her the fifth prime minister to be removed by the Constitutional Court since 2008.
Paetongtarn was suspended in July after her leaked phone call with Hun Sen prompted uproar.
She was Thailand’s youngest ever leader – being only 37 when she took up the post – and also its second female prime minister after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra who ruled from 2011 to 2014.
The daughter of billionaire and former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, she attended elite schools in Thailand and went to university in Surrey in the UK before working for the family’s Rende hotel group.
Known by her nickname Ung Ing, she joined the Pheu Thai Party in 2021 and became its leader in 2023.
Last year, the Thai parliament chose her to replace predecessor Thavisin, who was removed by the country’s Constitutional Court for violating a rule on cabinet appointments.
The Shinawatras have dominated Thai politics for decades – and her removal is a blow to the political dynasty.
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